Oliver Moore
@oliver-moore.bsky.social
Deviant pedestrian. I’m bullish on cities, opposed to fascism and write editorials for The Globe and Mail. Never 51. @moore_oliver at the bird site, which I've mostly left. Will try to respond via [email protected]. Header pic by Mervyn Sequeira
Pinned
One of the big brains in the WaPo commentary stable recently opined that London was a city in decline. Absurd. But, if true, London Ontario just has to bide its time for a century or two
The real galaxy brain Canada is to make London Ontario the biggest London, but Canadians are afraid to dream big
Tired: Maximum Canada
Wired: Maximum Waterloo Region
Wired: Maximum Waterloo Region
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
One of the big brains in the WaPo commentary stable recently opined that London was a city in decline. Absurd. But, if true, London Ontario just has to bide its time for a century or two
Well this isn't concerning at all..
"any worries on Wall Street about a possible investment bubble have largely been trumped by the fear of being left behind"
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
"any worries on Wall Street about a possible investment bubble have largely been trumped by the fear of being left behind"
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
Wall Street Blows Past Bubble Worries to Supercharge AI Spending Frenzy
Firms such as Blue Owl Capital have raised trillions in investing firepower. The artificial-intelligence build-out is a perfect match, though warning signs are flashing.
www.wsj.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Well this isn't concerning at all..
"any worries on Wall Street about a possible investment bubble have largely been trumped by the fear of being left behind"
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
"any worries on Wall Street about a possible investment bubble have largely been trumped by the fear of being left behind"
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
No. Arguably the real problem is that most cities don't have enough public garbage cans. But their absence doesn't mean the nearest private can becomes a public receptacle. Also, it's just weird to imply that the alternatives to dumping are littering or not picking up
www.thestar.com/life/can-you...
www.thestar.com/life/can-you...
Can you throw dog doo-doo in someone else’s garbage bin? The debate over the ‘politics of poop’
City bylaws. Vigilante justice. It’s an age-old debate that gets neighbours up in arms. “The politics of poop,” one dog owner said, “are intense.”
www.thestar.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
No. Arguably the real problem is that most cities don't have enough public garbage cans. But their absence doesn't mean the nearest private can becomes a public receptacle. Also, it's just weird to imply that the alternatives to dumping are littering or not picking up
www.thestar.com/life/can-you...
www.thestar.com/life/can-you...
Years ago I wrote about this very thing, pegged to a converted garage in London. Fun spot though all done a bit quick and dirty cause of a short-term lease. Haven’t been back to the site and heard it eventually went into receivership, but is still operational
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toron...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toron...
Redeveloping surface parking is a no brainer. But what do you do with underused urban parking garages?
Commercial and residential conversion is out because of the sloped floors, most industrial I think, same...
Commercial and residential conversion is out because of the sloped floors, most industrial I think, same...
November 17, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Years ago I wrote about this very thing, pegged to a converted garage in London. Fun spot though all done a bit quick and dirty cause of a short-term lease. Haven’t been back to the site and heard it eventually went into receivership, but is still operational
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toron...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toron...
Found my Met Gala outfit
November 16, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Found my Met Gala outfit
A reader kindly and gently reminded me that I had somehow forgotten Etobicoke-Lakeshore, which also took much more than its share. Mea maxima culpa. I would note that this makes the point even stronger. Four of Toronto’s 25 wards took a stunning 95.5pc of the city’s growth from census 2016 to 2021
This will not be news to regular readers, but it's worth noting whenever Toronto council debates housing (or transportation or neighbourhood amenities) that just three of the 25 wards absorbed three-quarters of the city's population growth between 2016 and 2021
November 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
A reader kindly and gently reminded me that I had somehow forgotten Etobicoke-Lakeshore, which also took much more than its share. Mea maxima culpa. I would note that this makes the point even stronger. Four of Toronto’s 25 wards took a stunning 95.5pc of the city’s growth from census 2016 to 2021
Calling it now. If a substantial contingent of ultras travels to Toronto for next year’s World Cup games the city will be caught totally flat-footed. They better be hiring serious international consultants to tell them how to manage this
November 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Calling it now. If a substantial contingent of ultras travels to Toronto for next year’s World Cup games the city will be caught totally flat-footed. They better be hiring serious international consultants to tell them how to manage this
Now don’t anyone be a bad person and joke that the Sun and Post clearly need skills development
BREAKING: Secret Skills Development Fund data obtained by @thestar.com reveals Labour Minister David Piccini doled out millions to low-scoring applicants. E.G. owner of @TheTorontoSun and the @nationalpost got $1M despite a 41.68% score.
#onpoli
www.thestar.com/politics/pro...
#onpoli
www.thestar.com/politics/pro...
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/secret-data-reveals-which-low-scoring-ap[…]om-the-ford/article_8e6b59ef-8352-43cc-9434-c9d9c04bb65d.html
November 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Now don’t anyone be a bad person and joke that the Sun and Post clearly need skills development
You’re don’t have to read the piece everyone is ranting about
November 14, 2025 at 6:53 PM
You’re don’t have to read the piece everyone is ranting about
This will not be news to regular readers, but it's worth noting whenever Toronto council debates housing (or transportation or neighbourhood amenities) that just three of the 25 wards absorbed three-quarters of the city's population growth between 2016 and 2021
November 14, 2025 at 5:07 PM
This will not be news to regular readers, but it's worth noting whenever Toronto council debates housing (or transportation or neighbourhood amenities) that just three of the 25 wards absorbed three-quarters of the city's population growth between 2016 and 2021
It’s so rare that one can pinpoint the actual moment a city begins its decline into licentious ruin
“Preparing beverages, like espresso-based drinks, would be allowed though, paving the way for cafés to open”
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
“Preparing beverages, like espresso-based drinks, would be allowed though, paving the way for cafés to open”
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
New shops and cafés can open in Toronto neighbourhoods decades after being outlawed | CBC News
New small shops and cafés will once again be allowed to open inside some of Toronto’s neighbourhoods, reversing decades of strict planning policy that kept businesses out of residential areas.
www.cbc.ca
November 14, 2025 at 1:27 PM
It’s so rare that one can pinpoint the actual moment a city begins its decline into licentious ruin
“Preparing beverages, like espresso-based drinks, would be allowed though, paving the way for cafés to open”
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
“Preparing beverages, like espresso-based drinks, would be allowed though, paving the way for cafés to open”
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Ljubljana will see your cake vending machine and raise you a raw milk automat, complete with glass bottles
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Ljubljana will see your cake vending machine and raise you a raw milk automat, complete with glass bottles
This is one of the purest encapsulations I've seen recently of someone who sees a city not as a destination but as something through which to drive. Imagine if there were popular stores? The horror
Councillor Shan moves to exclude three streets in his ward. He worries the retail spaces created won't just be small shops selling ice cream to locals, but things like "beef patties that are so popular that people from the 905 will come to get it." That'll just add to traffic problems, he says.
November 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
This is one of the purest encapsulations I've seen recently of someone who sees a city not as a destination but as something through which to drive. Imagine if there were popular stores? The horror
Pour one out for the reporters covering Vancouver city council
So 600+ speakers signed up to speak to the mayor’s terrible budget.
It’s going to be a long week for council.
I’ll be there today (#21) to support our sustainability, planning and arts staff and programs
It’s going to be a long week for council.
I’ll be there today (#21) to support our sustainability, planning and arts staff and programs
November 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Pour one out for the reporters covering Vancouver city council
Once in a while you tune into a city council meeting and you're reminded that they take a full-council vote on whether to install a traffic light at a specific location
November 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Once in a while you tune into a city council meeting and you're reminded that they take a full-council vote on whether to install a traffic light at a specific location
The sequence feels like a series of leaps
1/ housing is a human right; and
2/ there guidelines suggesting *how much* housing/person is adequate; therefore
3/ any policies inhibiting access to 3-bedroom homes violate, in spirit, housing as human right
www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/housing-as...
1/ housing is a human right; and
2/ there guidelines suggesting *how much* housing/person is adequate; therefore
3/ any policies inhibiting access to 3-bedroom homes violate, in spirit, housing as human right
www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/housing-as...
Housing as a Human Right Requires 3+ Bedroom Homes in Every Community
Housing through a human rights lens
www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca
November 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The sequence feels like a series of leaps
1/ housing is a human right; and
2/ there guidelines suggesting *how much* housing/person is adequate; therefore
3/ any policies inhibiting access to 3-bedroom homes violate, in spirit, housing as human right
www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/housing-as...
1/ housing is a human right; and
2/ there guidelines suggesting *how much* housing/person is adequate; therefore
3/ any policies inhibiting access to 3-bedroom homes violate, in spirit, housing as human right
www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/housing-as...
Time flies. I’ve been on The Globe ed board for a full year now, and almost never feel like this anymore
November 11, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Time flies. I’ve been on The Globe ed board for a full year now, and almost never feel like this anymore
“I raced to the baggage scanning line ... ducked under the barriers and cut to the front of the line. I apologized to the employee there”
You’re apologising to the wrong people, mate
You’re apologising to the wrong people, mate
Noah Smith is paid in the high six-figures to write a blog read by Americans who believe themselves to be intelligent. Yet, he is both unable to read a sign and also for some reason chose to have a 90 minute layover for a flight that takes 90 minutes.
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
Economist Doesn't Follow Signs At Heathrow: Proof The UK Is Failing?
A economist had a bad experience connecting at Heathrow, suggesting it's reflective of bigger issues in the UK. There's only one issue...
onemileatatime.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
“I raced to the baggage scanning line ... ducked under the barriers and cut to the front of the line. I apologized to the employee there”
You’re apologising to the wrong people, mate
You’re apologising to the wrong people, mate
It’s a telling mark of Toronto’s puritanism that the bogeyman is people standing around having a quiet drink *outside*
Meanwhile the parade of cars driving along the residential street goes unremarked
Meanwhile the parade of cars driving along the residential street goes unremarked
The folks at IntegrityTO have finally weighed in on neighbourhood retail with AI generated scenes of creepy faceless loiterers congregating outside a 7-11…
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
Mind you the recommendation (that didn’t make it past committee) was for *corner lots*. They can’t even prompt right.
November 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
It’s a telling mark of Toronto’s puritanism that the bogeyman is people standing around having a quiet drink *outside*
Meanwhile the parade of cars driving along the residential street goes unremarked
Meanwhile the parade of cars driving along the residential street goes unremarked
Honestly, one of the great parts of journalism is that really smart people are willing to take the time to explain things to you
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Honestly, one of the great parts of journalism is that really smart people are willing to take the time to explain things to you
"As the second half of the 20th century wore on, the Windsors offered their children and grandchildren to the public and the tabloids as fodder and punchlines. They were not revered by us any more, unless you believe that dancing bears are revered."
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
Abolish the monarchy
It’s more than Prince Andrew – the whole House of Windsor is rotten to the core
www.newstatesman.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"As the second half of the 20th century wore on, the Windsors offered their children and grandchildren to the public and the tabloids as fodder and punchlines. They were not revered by us any more, unless you believe that dancing bears are revered."
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
Footie in the snow … a Heritage Moment
David Rodríguez with an incredible bicycle kick goal to level the game for Ottawa
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Footie in the snow … a Heritage Moment
I have written extensively about suicide using transit trains and can confirm that it happens regularly — whether or not any individual person has heard about it
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 PM
I have written extensively about suicide using transit trains and can confirm that it happens regularly — whether or not any individual person has heard about it
There’s a run on pitchforks coming
The USDA and Trump administration issued a memo ordering states to “undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits.” I have never seen an administration work so hard to starve people. Don’t forget your red hats at the food pantry, MAGA.
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 PM
There’s a run on pitchforks coming